Deputy Keeps Fit For Job, Fun, And Competition

November 02, 1998|By Dave Barnes.

MCHENRY COUNTY — Pumping iron might not be every woman's cup of tea. But for McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Christine Massie of Johnsburg, keeping fit is not only a career asset but a lifelong passion.

"I've been in fitness my whole life," Massie said during a recent workout in Powerhouse Gym in Lake in the Hills. "I used to be a personal trainer before going into law enforcement."

Massie and her training partner, Bobbie Kongsgaard of McHenry, have been working out six times a week for the last nine months to get in shape for a national body-building competition set for Saturday in Rockford.

For Massie, 36, it will be her second time in the event--she finished second in her division two years ago--but the competition will be a new experience for Kongsgaard, 46, a flight attendant for American Airlines.

When not working out at the gym, Massie works out with her law enforcement partner, a German shepherd named Torro, one of three dogs in the sheriff's K-9 unit.

Officer Andy Zinke, also attached to the K-9 unit, frequently works out with Massie and Kongsgaard but concedes "those girls put me to shame. When Chris is not training with Torro, she's here at the gym. Sometimes they walk the treadmill together."

Contrary to popular misconception, body-building is not all about bulging muscles but focuses on proportions and tone. To the untrained eye there is nothing to give away the countless hours the two women have spent in the gym except that both look remarkably fit.

Zinke said the workouts also are an important adjunct to his and Massie's work with the K-9 unit.

"The Sheriff's Department has $10,000 invested in each of these dogs," Zinke said. "It's up to us keep them in top condition, and that takes a lot of time working out with them."